In Oregon, the Mecca —if not the birthplace — of the sustainable food movement and the restaurant farm-to-table trend, the stakes are high for restaurateurs looking to distinguish themselves.

So Matt Christianson, the chef of Urban Farmer, the restaurant nestled in the lobby of The Nines Hotel in downtown Portland, was intrigued when he was approached in the hotel’s lounge by a rancher from Central Oregon who said he had a new breed of cattle on his ranch, that these cows were grass fed, grain finished and Urban Farmer could order one up.

After looking into it he found out this new breed, called Cascade Red, a Red Angus/Pinzgauer cross, was the first to be introduced in the U.S. in 47 years. It was finished at The Basque Ranch on the same tasty triticale wheat that the restaurant was already using for its signature rolls.

“It was exciting,” said Christianson. “But there was also a concern. Nobody had tasted it.”

Urban Farmer debuted the beef last month at the restaurant and Christianson immediately placed a second order.

Christianson said the benefit of employing farm-to-table cooking practices in the hotel setting is that he can truly put every piece of the cow — and the pig, he gets a 350-pound one delivered to him every week — to work with the intrinsic customer base provided by the hotel.

"Ten years ago this was all something new. Now it’s just part of being a chef," Christianson said. “I buy local eggs, I buy local pork. I buy local fish as much as possible.”

Marketing their products to the sustainably-minded restaurant world has been a trend for Oregon ranchers for several years. Through programs such as Country Natural Beef, Painted Hills and Emerald Hills, ranchers are able to get a marketing boost — often for the sustainable practices they've been quietly employing for years, said Bill Hoyt, president of the Oregon Cattlemen's Association.

But for individual ranchers to work with individual chefs, it's a trend that's still rare as marketing takes time that most ranchers don't have. "There's a desire for that on both sides," Hoyt said. "But it's also a complex issue." Questions of supply and whether or not the buyer can handle a whole carcass instead of individual cuts often become complicating factors.

Christianson, who employs a full-time butcher to enable him to work directly with ranchers, said he's happy to do business this way.

“It allows us to be a part of community development,” he said. “We’re supporting the local farmers.”

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